Dream's Guide to Scanning in Photoshop.

i thought it would be nice to devise a step by step instruction on creating high resolution, raw scans that can be used
to create glorious wallpapers.

as a background reference on "resolutions" i have scanned an article by the imaging wizards at Photoshop
Creative, that i have found most informative:

to scan one needs access to:
electricity
a computer
digital imaging software [PS or PSP]
a scanner [be sure to clean the glass]
an art-book [make sure book is clean not dusty, bloody, muddy etc]

i will be using Photoshop software.
before scanning: make sure to set up PS or PSP to directly IMPORT scans. never use the scanning software to
edit/scan provided with the scanner, since PS is so much better at editing large scans and the image will be directly
imported into Photoshop.

now we can begin:
1) Open up Photoshop. We are ready to start scanning. go to FILE - IMPORT - THEN SELECT YOUR SCANNER. I choose Epson
Perfection 2580.

what's the difference between the different types of resizing settings? (like bicubic, pixel resize, etc.)

and also, I find that when I scan something glossy, like say magazines, it turns out weird, 'cause there's subtle
reflections or something....

and just a note to the PSP users: instead of Save or Save As, use "Export -> JPEG Optimizer", and turn down
the compression value until the file size is close to 2mb as possible. Esp if you have lots of reds in the scan, using
straight Save or Save As will pixelate the reds horribly >_<

Quote by kuroimisaGreat! I
usually scan with the Scanner Wizard >_> And then I open the image in Photoshop- I never knew about the whole
bicubic thing, so I guess I'll do that for sure next time- nifty :D

scanning directly in PS will not only allow the retention of more pixel data but will be easier on your pc's resources
as well.

Quote by MapleRosewhat's the
difference between the different types of resizing settings? (like bicubic, pixel resize,
etc.)

Re-sampling involves changing resolution. You can either add pixels [up-sampling] or
reduce pixels [down-sampling] through a process called interpolation. Interpolation adds pixels to the colour value of
the surronding pixels. source: Photoshop Creative- see article in OP.

Bilinear: Bilinear Interpolation determines the value of a new pixel based on a
weighted average of the 4 pixels in the nearest 2 x -2 neighborhood of the pixel in the original image.

Bicubic*: Bicubic interpolation is more sophisticated and produces smoother edges
than bilinear interpolation.

Bicubic Smoother: Used to up-sample an image. I do not recommend up-sampling
scans/images. Mt does not accept scans that have been up-sampled- that is has additional pixels added giving the
"appearance" of a larger scan.

Bicubic Sharper*: Used to down-sample an image. Retains detail and sharpens even
when removing pixels. [Photoshop Creative]This is the recommended setting for Photoshop CS and above.
source: Dp Review

Quote by MapleRoseand just a
note to the PSP users: instead of Save or Save As, use "Export -> JPEG Optimizer", and turn down the
compression value until the file size is close to 2mb as possible. Esp if you have lots of reds in the scan, using
straight Save or Save As will pixelate the reds horribly >_<

my first imaging program was Paint Shop Pro 9 and it is an excellent program. As noted in my PS step by step, PSP can be
used to import scans, crop, resize and save.

the step for saving is, as Lady MapleRose pointed out: different in PSP than PS and actually has an advantage; since you
can see the exact file size and the pixels compared [original/new size] next to each other.

to illustrate i pulled up a Hiroki Mafuyu
scan that is over 16mb. I will be saving the scan in PSP. this falls under Step 6.

6) Now SAVE the image. go to the main menu and select FILE > EXPORT > JPEG
OPTIMIZER. Change the value of the SET COMPRESSION VALUE. In this case i set the value to "11", which gives me
a file size of around 1.8mb. Take a second to view the pixels of the final size 1.8mb file compared to the original size
of 16mb. Note: for best results make sure the CHROMA SUB-SAMPLING is set to (NONE). Hit OK and choose a file
name.